Today's Feature

Services Committee Discussions.

The City Council Public Services Committee met this week in a regular session. The committee discussed a request by Frank Martinez to allow Stream Team 3320 to use Kellogg Lake for a water festival on May 31. Martinez was not in attendance of the meeting. The committee discussed some of the requests, including the availability of restrooms and security and agreed that more input would be needed before a recommendation could be made.

The committee also reviewed some capital improvement lists for the Municipal Golf Course and the Parks Department. Golf Pro Mark Peterson said that some of the equipment used on the golf course would need to be replaced soon, including the fairway mower, rough mower and 7 other pieces of equipment that get used daily on the course.

Parks Director Alan Bull said that the department had previously discussed lease/purchase options for the equipment, but now was recommending a 5 year lease/purchase agreement. Bull said that with the trade-in of the currently used equipment the cost would be approximately $46 thousand per year for 5 years.

Peterson said that the department had spent roughly $8,900 in equipment repairs in 2006 and $17,600 in repairs in 2007. Bull added that in addition to not having to pay as much for repairs, a lease/purchase agreement would create less fluctuation in equipment costs over the 5 year period.

Bull said that he would need to do further research on the equipment before making any recommendations, but added that he thought it would be a good idea to develop a schedule of replacement.

Peterson additionally told the committee positive news about the golf course, saying that several regional courses had raised their prices creating increased interest in the Carthage course. Peterson said interest in memberships and in events was up this year, and that the internet marketing program the course is using appears to be working well.

The committee also reviewed contracts with the American Legion Baseball, Carthage R-9 Schools, Carthage Kiwanis, Carthage Aquatic Team, Carthage Youth Softball and the Carthage Little League Baseball for use of City parks. Two years ago the committee approved a measure that allows the contracts to automatically renew if there are no changes and both parties are still willing. No changes were made to any of the contracts and the committee had no objections.

Mornin’

I think I have finally got this spring forward, fall back thing down. That is as far as settin’ the clock. I still have to do a little figurin’ to understand why my body doesn’t adjust as easily to the time change.

I have in my head that one of the time changes doesn’t take as long to get adjusted to. The idea of springin’ forward looks like it would take the hardest toll. The act of movin’ ahead would seem ta consume more energy than fallin’ back. I suppose it really boils down to whether a person is a night person or a mornin’ type.

Stayin’ up an extra hour doesn’t bother night person ‘cause it will be mornin’ person’s problem to get up with the alarm.

At least in the fall, mornin’ person gets the opportunity to sleep in another hour.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Click & Clack Talk Cars
By Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

I’m in Taji, Iraq, driving a Mitsubishi diesel pickup with a turbo, intercooled engine. It’s very hard to start in the morning. You have to pump the gas at least 10 times, and then, once it starts, you have to hold the pedal all the way down until it stops shaking. Do you suppose that the previous driver put gasoline in it by accident? Or is there some other problem? Please help. Contractor support here is minimal.-Dan

RAY: If I were in Iraq, a little engine shake would be the last thing I’d be worried about, Dan. Those "backfires" are what would scare the heck out of me!

TOM: From your description, it sounds like not all of your cylinders are firing right away, like it’s running on two or three cylinders. You can keep the engine from stalling by planting your foot on the gas pedal. But it’s not until the engine warms up that the other cylinders jump in and make the truck drivable.

RAY: The first thing I’d suspect, in that case, would be your fuel filter or fuel injectors.

TOM: The fuel filter could be clogged for all kinds of reasons. Perhaps no one’s changed it since Saddam threw out all the Jiffy al-Lubes. Or maybe some "unfriendlies" have been filling the tank with camel whiz! Who knows?

RAY: If the fuel filter is clean, or the problem continues after you change it, then it could be partially plugged injectors. When an engine’s cold, it’s very unforgiving of stuff like that.

TOM: But once an engine warms up, a bad spray pattern from an injector is less of a big deal.

RAY: Of course, if the truck continues to run rough even after it’s warm and idles roughly, then you could have something more serious: a worn-out engine with lousy compression. If that’s it, you’ll have to appeal for some better contractor support, Dan, in the form of a new engine. Good luck.